One of the World’s Most Extensive and Expensive Integrated Resorts, Resorts World Sentosa Was Built in a Record Time of Under Three Years

We are always thrilled to hear news from Michael Graves & Associates (MGA), especially when it comes in the form of a mega-project. This week they announced the completion of the first phase of their Resorts World Sentosa, a new global vacation destination combining top-flight hotels, family entertainment, fine dining, and world-class gaming on 121 acres just across Keppel Harbor from downtown Singapore.

Aerial view of the resort

The project marks a significant milestone for Singapore, as MGA’s client Genting Singapore builds the country’s first large-scale multi-recreational luxury park. The resort, which includes a Universal Studio Theme Park, was one of the first projects to be certified with the GoldPlus award from Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Mark program for energy efficiency. It’s also a major accomplishment for MGA—the largest project in the firm’s 46 year history, and the best example of its unique integrated design practice, with master planning, architecture, interior design, furniture, products and graphics, all from the minds of designer Michael Graves and Principal-in-Charge Patrick Burke.

Says Michael Graves, “Sentosa brings together so many parts of our practice—it draws on the deep skill-set of my partners, and our talented staff, and it’s allowed us to demonstrate our architectural values on a larger canvas than ever before.”

Founded in 1898 by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart Preparatory is a 550-student co-educational high school located on the 64-acre campus of the K-12 Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, California. The historic red brick Main Building, built at the school's founding, still dominates the center of campus. The school's mission is to provide an integrated approach to learning, which is spiritually nurturing and academically challenging, producing students who are "committed to social justice, respectful of creation and prepared to be stewards of the earth's resources."

Michael J. Homer was an early Silicon Valley pioneer who played an important role in the development of the personal computer, the Internet, and the hand-held digital device. In honor of Mr. Homer and as a reflection of the innovative Silicon Valley culture he helped to create, the Homer Center brings together Science, Community and Nature in one unique educational environment. The 44,109-square foot building incorporates an unusual hybrid program of eight sophisticated science classrooms, a 700-seat auditorium, a 350-seat dining hall with full commercial kitchen, and administrative offices in spaces that inspire scientific inquiry, foster a strong learning community and promote environmental stewardship.

Photographs by Tim Griffith

This office project was designed for a shopping center developer. The initial concept was to create very functional and contemporary headquarters. The design intention was to build, through the language and the atmosphere, an architecture completely aside from the traditional / institutional one, based on the premise of the workplace as a second home where workers spent most of our time.

Photographs by Jaime Navarro

A mix of natural materials such as marble and wood, in contrast with colored tempered glass, stainless steel and iron, created balanced color and textures compositions and at the same time a combination between modern design and a warm ambiance.

The CG House rests on a generous 17,250 sq. ft. site adjacent to the Sierra Madre Mountains. While the site’s steep slope presented a number of design challenges, the dramatic views it afforded of the city of Monterrey provided the architect with a number of opportunities as well.

From the street, two massive oak tress rise to provide privacy and welcome shade to the swimming pool terrace above. Due to the sloping nature of the site, a massive, exposed concrete wall defines and encloses the swimming pool and garden areas of the house and sets the tone for the design of the house itself, which is clad in brown/black volcanic stone, IPE wood, white stucco and steel.

Photographs by Jorge Taboada

One of the 18 recipients for the 2010 Housing Awards, the project is a small cottage and office are set along the steep bank of Dry Creek. The two structures are stretched along the verdant edge of the creek between the public world of the entry drive and the private world of the forested creek. Material, structure and craftsmanship played a vital role in the realization of these two modest buildings.

All photographs © Nic Lehoux Architectural Photography

Solid wood-clad volumes face the drive and contain the program’s service elements. Delicate ribbon windows are strategically placed in the façades providing views, introducing light, and maintaining privacy. In contrast, full height glazed walls along the creek allow the intimate building plan to open completely.

The multifunctional building ASTRA is located in a strategic site: where the two main axis of this Adriatic city meet: Corso Nazario Sauro (east-west) , Via Orsini-Trieste (north-south). This is also the place where the main square is located: Piazza Martiri Fosse Ardeatine. The area is situated on the east side of the square: the project redefines all this border of the square with a strategy that emphasizes both the volumes and the voids.

Located in the heart of Las Vegas Boulevard, Crystals is the 500,000-square-foot retail and entertainment space, which is the connective center of the MGM MIRAGE City-Center project. Opened in 2009, CityCenter is a vertical city within a city which includes 2,400 private residences, two boutique hotels, and a 61-story resort casino. The project bears its architect’s signature style with turbulent forms interacting with each other in a sculptural composition.